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Robert Frostâ•Žs Theory and Practice of Poetry

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Robert Frostâ•Žs Theory and Practice of Poetry /~/ ROBERT FROST’S THEORY AND PRACTICE OF POETRY A THESIS SUN~ITTED TO THE FACULTY OF ~TLANTh UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILII4ENT OF ThE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS BY EMMA L • YORK DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH ATLANTA, GEORGIA MAY 1967 ~ ~ ~53 /J~:.5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE iii INTRODUCTION . vi Chapter I. Frost’s Theory of Poetry . I. II. Major Themes in Frost’s Poetry 16 III. Frost’s Language and Style 30 CONCLUSION . 49 B IBLIOGR.APHY . 5 1 11 PREFACE Although Robert Frost occupies a unique position in modern poetry, he has not received the careful critical evaluation his work deserves. Anyone who has studied the numerous articles and books about him is quick to note that much has been done in the way of biographical sketches, regional vignettes, and appreciation, but little effort has been made to examine the poetry itself. There are many reasons for this lack of serious consideration. The main cause, however, is to be found in the very nature of his art. The poetry he has written is of a type distinctly different from that of his major contemporaries. At first glance, his work has an unusual simplicity which sets it apart. Frost’s poetry does not conform to any of the conventional devices characteristic of modern poetry. Modern poetry often exhibits obscurities of style and fra~nentary sentences, whereas, Frost’s sentences are clear. In modern poetry the verse forms are irregular with abrupt shifts from subject to subject. Frost’s language is conventional - close to everyday speech. Because he demands less erudition in the reader, his poetry may appear to lack the depth of thought that is found in the best modern verse. He is paradoxical, and he seldom meets the modern reader’s expectations. In modern poetry, one expects an ironic view and finds Frost capricious; one expects a tension of feeling and finds Frost writing in quiet, flat conversational tones; one expects bold metaphor and finds him indulging in playful comparison. The illusion of simplicity is so dominant and his manner so familiar and easily comprehended that one is tempted to iii iv assume that there is no need to examine his methods as a poet. Since very little scholarly research has been done on the poetry of Frost, it is the purpose of this thesis to provide a synthesis of basic information that may bring a better understanding of his work. For convenience, this study has been divided into the following chapters: “Frost’s Theory of Poetry,” “Major Themes in Frost’s Poetry,” and “Frost’s Language and Style.” Chapter 1 will consider his poetic credo and practices as they are formally definable from a general discussion of some of his major works. In addition, this chapter will take into account the principles which he sets forth in relation to the function of poetry. In Chapter II Frost’s major themes will be discussed, and explications will be made of several poems which have been carefully selected to represent some of the best of his works in lyric, dramatic and satiric forms. In the last chapter the writer will examine the language and style of Frost’s poetry. An evaluative conclusion will attempt to define the position of the poet and his poetry in the literary world today. I am eager to acknowledge my indebtedness and appreciation to the individuals who assisted in making the study a pleasurable task. To Dr. Thomas D. Jarrett, for his guidance, loans of useful ma terials and wise counsel, I make foremost acknowledgement of appreci ation and gratitude. To the late Mr. G. Lewis Chandler, who helped me overcome diffi culties in securing important information by giving me access to his library; this and other forms of assistance rendered by Mr. Chandler, are acknowledged with profound gratitude. To my mother, without whom neither life nor work would bring V fulfillment. Long before I became acquainted with Frost, it was she who taught me that I had “miles to go” before I slept if I were ever to travel “the road not taken” by any other member of my family. INTRODUCTION Robert Frost’s life, Like his poetry is filled with curious con tradictions. It would be strange indeed if any account of his life were given without some mention of them. In “West-running Brook,” a dramatic dialogue by Frost, a farmer and his wife are presented as en gaging in a playful argument on the contrary direction of a small New England stream. This small stream, though running westward, must in its course flow into the Atlantic. During the course of their conver satton, they observe the motion of a white wave as it is flung counter to itself against the current of black water which is caught on a sunken rock. The husband says, Speaking of contraries, see how the brook In that white wave runs counter to itself. Quite obviously, various contraries are interrelated to focus attention on the poet’s dominant and recurrent themes. The present writer, however, will make temporary use of this wave Image to suggest a possible approach to an interpretation of Robert Frost’s life and art, in relation to elements that run counter to themselves. First of all, though descended from a long line of New Englanders who had been rooted in New England since 1632, Frost was born in Cali fornia. Although he is most typical of American poets, he received his first recognition in England. Consequently, his first two books were published abroad. He has never been of a competitive spirit and does 1For this historical material, the present writer is indebted to Louis Untermeyer and his introduction to an anthology of Robert Frost’s Poems /~obert Frost, An Anthology of Robert Frost’s Poems (New York, 1966), pp. 2-13/. vi vii not believe in prize contests, yet he has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize four times for the best book of poetry of the year. He has chosen to write his blank verse monologues in the flat, homely, rough and con versational tones of everyday speech, yet his lyrics are noted for their delicate and precise music. The titles of his books, North of Boston, Mountain Interval, New Hampshire and A Further Range seem local, yet this seemingly regional poetry has universal appeal. His father was of a restless and sometimes rebellious nature. It had been the hope of the family that William Prescott Frost would be a lawyer, instead he became a teacher, then an editor, and finally a politician. He revolted against Republican New England and moved to California to work on the San Francisco Bulletin, a Democratic news paper. During the Civil War, he was sympathetic toward the southern cause and was an avid supporter of states’ rights. It would have been quite appropriate for his son, born on March 26, 1874, to have been christened Robert Burns Frost in honor of the great English bard, since he chose to write poetry. This was not the case, however. He was named after the great southern soldier, Robert E. Lee. During the days of Frost’s youth, San Francisco was a rough town. The elder Frost could not adjust to the strain and stress of an editor- politician in a boisterous community and succumbed to tuberculosis in his early thirties. The fatherless boy was :aken back to the New England of his an cestors by his mother. His mother began teaching school and reading to him. Nevertheless, he was fourteen before he read his first book, Scottish Chiefs, and he later read Tom Brown’s School Days. He dis covered poetry through his readings of Poe and Emerson. He admired the viii beautiful music of Poe equally as much as the meaningfulness of Emerson. It was during this stage of his life that he began to compose his own verse. His first poem was long ballad about Cortez and the night he was driven out of Mexico City. It appeared in the Lawrence High School Bulletin. At the age of nineteen his first professional poem was printed in The Independent, a magazine of national circulation. He was paid fifteen dollars for this poetic endeavor. His mother was pleased, but his grandfather was disturbed. His grandfather said, “No one can make a living at poetry. But I tell you what,” he added shrewdly, “we’ll give you a year to make a go of it. And you’ll have to promise to quit writing if you can’t make a success of it in a year. What do you say?” “Giveme twenty-give me twenty,” replied the nineteen year old Robert Frost. Without a doubt, his muse overheard the youthful joking auctioneer and decided to punish him; for it was a full twenty years later that Frost’s first book, A Boy’s Will (1934) was published. The book was a tremendous success, and Frost was proved an accurate prophet. He has always been more practical than academic. At the insist ence of his grandfather he matriculated in both Dartmouth College and Harvard without taking a degree from either institution. Within two months of study at Dartmouth, he returned home. “I was mostly roughing around up there,” he said years later. After two years of his marriage, his grandfather gave him a farm near Derry, New Hampshire. He farmed for five or six years, but in the end he turned to teaching as a part time vocation. At thirty-five he sold his Derry farm and with that money plus the little he had saved by ix teaching at Pinkerton Academy in Derry Village, he along with his family sailed for England.
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